377
The Economist on using phrenology for hiring and lending decisions: "Some might argue that face-based analysis is more meritocratic" […] "For people without access to credit, that could be a blessing" (lemmy.ml)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
113 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/38830374

tweet

economist article

archive.is paywall bypass

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrenology

excerpts of economist article:

screenshot of text "Imagine appearing for a job interview and, without saying a single word, being told that you are not getting the role because your face didn’t fit. You would assume discrimination, and might even contemplate litigation. But what if bias was not the reason? What if your face gave genuinely useful clues about your probable performance at work? That question is at the heart of a recent research"

[...]

screenshot of text "a shorter one. Some might argue that face-based analysis is more meritocratic than processes which reward, say, educational attainment. Kelly Shue of the Yale School of Management, one of the new paper’s authors, says they are now looking at whether AI facial analysis can give lenders useful clues about a person’s propensity to repay loans. For people without access to credit, that could be a blessing."

screenshot of a tweet from @TheEconomist on Nov 8 2025 with text "What if your face gave genuinely useful clues about your probable performance at work? That question is at the heart of a recent paper"
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 17 points 1 year ago (1 child)

Everyone is kind of focusing on the hiring part, which is incredibly nazi already, but they're saying for lending too. Fucking yikes.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago

    How revolutionary. They're going to upend the world of finance by trying to give loans to people who can't structurally afford to pay them back in all likelihood? Isn't that the entire playbook for wage slaves to those who are otherwise of sound mind and body?

    Maybe they try to just continue with the current (awful)status quo without the psuedoscience? Course then they'd lose out on the fascism.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent